Just in case you missed any news in July 2015, these were the 10 most read articles on bariatricnews.net in July 2015 including the latest research, product & industry news, policy news and more...

Twelve month outcomes from a study assessing the impact of laparoscopic gastric plication (LGP) on remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has concluded that the procedure ameliorates overall blood glucose control of T2DM in morbid obese patients with minimal physiologic changes in the gastrointestinal tract. The study by researchers from Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, was published in the journal Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders...(more)

New findings about the mechanisms involved - or not involved - in the effects of the most common form of bariatric surgery suggest that combining surgery with a specific type of medication could augment the benefits of the procedure. In a report entitled ‘Weight loss after RYGB is independent of and complementary to serotonin 2C receptor signaling in male mice’, that has been published online in the journal Endocrinology, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators report that the effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) do not utilise neurologic pathways controlled by the serotonin 2C receptor. Since that receptor is a proven target for the FDA-approved anti-obesity drug lorcaserin, the findings imply that the two methods could have complementary effects, producing even more weight loss than achieved with either one alone...(more)

Just in case you missed any news in June 2015, these were the 10 most read articles on bariatricnews.net in June 2015 including the latest research, product & industry news, policy news and more...

Medtronic has announced the availability of the GastriSail gastric positioning system to help promote more consistent sleeve creation and greater procedural efficiency for surgeons performing a sleeve gastrectomy. Developed by the company’s Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, the GastriSail system combines the benefits of three devices into one, allowing surgeons to consistently size and decompress the stomach pouch and test for leaks without removing and reinserting another device (thereby reducing the potential of irritating or injuring the oesophagus during the procedure). The GastriSail system received FDA approval in February 2015…(more)

Obese patients are at high risk of post-surgery complications according to the outcomes from a study that looked the results of severely obese patients in need of emergency surgery. The study, ‘Increased health services use by severely obese patients undergoing emergency surgery: a retrospective cohort study., published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery, by researchers from the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is demonstrates the surgical consequences of severe obesity...(more)

A study at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois found that, matched calorie for calorie with the simple sugar glucose, fructose causes significant weight gain, physical inactivity and body fat deposition. The paper, ‘Fructose decreases physical activity and increases body fat without affecting hippocampal neurogenesis and learning relative to an isocaloric glucose diet’, was published in Scientific Reports. Fructose currently accounts for 10 percent of caloric intake for US population and male adolescents are the top fructose consumers, deriving between 15 to 23 percent of their calories from fructose, three to four times more than the maximum levels recommended by the American Heart Association...(more)

Over 19,000 visitors read articles on Bariatricnews.net in March 2015 - thanks for reading! Just in case you missed any news last month, these were the 10 most read articles on bariatricnews.net in March 2015 including the latest research, product & industry news, policy news and more...

Patients who have poor poorer inhibitory lose less weight after RYGB-surgery and it is suggested that cognitive behavioural therapies after surgery could be a “promising behavioural adjuvant to achieve sustainable weight loss in patients undergoing this procedure”. The paper, published in PlosOne, recommends that future studies should examine whether such control deficits in poor responders are “food-specific or not”...(more)

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) improves obesity-associated gut microbiota composition towards a lean microbiome phenotype, as well as increasing malabsorption due to loss in energy-rich faecal substrates and impairment of bile acid circulation. These are the conclusion by researchers from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, the Chirurgische Klinik München-Bogenhausen, Munich, Germany and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, who published their study in the journal BioMed Research International...(more)

Previous studies have indicated that bariatric surgery could result in an increased risk of developing colon cancer and now researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, think they may know why. They believe that as much of the stomach and small intestine is bypassed, the food that is consumed is not completely broken down when it reaches the large intestine, or colon. That in turn appears to stimulate overproduction of a gut hormone that may spur the growth of polyps in the colon that have a propensity to become malignant...(more)

A report by the Health Select Committee that has criticised NHS England for spending more money on bariatric surgery than on measures to prevent obesity. The authors may argue that the comparison was made to highlight the idiocy in spending more on surgery than prevention. But this misses the point. Comparing spending on obesity prevention to bariatric surgery is an illogical comparison and, in some respects, undermines the many positive aspects of bariatric surgery.

Instead, the report should have compared obesity prevention spending to the funding on preventing heart disease, cancer awareness or stroke education. Given that obesity is a known risk factor for all of these (as well as type 2 diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, dementia…the list goes on), this would have been a more productive comparison and highlight how weight loss could have a positive impact on many other aspects of people’s health, and ease the strains obesity places on healthcare systems.

According to news reports, the Health Select Committee publication calls for a national lifestyle intervention programme, which if successful could mean that that “bariatric surgery would not be necessary if money was spent more wisely elsewhere.” An honourable intention – but what do we do about the 4% of the population in England that are morbidly obese? The Second National Bariatric Surgery Report published by the British Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society in December 2015, reported that the average BMI of patients who had surgery was 48.8% and many could not walk three flights of stairs. I am not aware of any life-style intervention programme rolled out on a national scale that that has resulted in substantial and sustained weight loss in obese - never mind morbidly obese - patients (please let me know if you do!).

Are they seriously suggesting we place these patients on a diet and exercise driven lifestyle invention programme? Would this be cheaper and more effective than bariatric surgery?

The fact is that all countries need a coordinated programme of education, much early and targetted life-style intervention programmes and government legislation to curb obesity. We already know that such healthcare-based population initiattives work – just look at how people’s perceptions to tobacco have changed and the subsequent health benefits. This was brought about by a long-term vision realised through education and government legislation.